Moire (fabric)

In textiles, a moire (/ˈmwɑːr/ or /ˈmɔːr/), less often moiré, is a fabric with a wavy (watered) appearance produced mainly from silk, but also wool, cotton and rayon. The watered appearance is usually created by the finishing technique called calendering. Moire effects are also achieved by certain weaves, such as varying the tension in the warp and weft of the weave, or by running the fabric through engraved copper rollers. Silk treated in this way is sometimes called watered silk.

Method of production

Moire is produced from two distinctly different methods of finishing. Calendering produces the true moire, known as "moire antique" and "moire Anglaise," which is a purely physical phenomenon. In calendering, the fabric is folded lengthwise in half with the face side inward, and with the two selvedges running together side by side. To produce moire, ribbed rollers are used, and the ribs produce the watermark effect. The rollers polish the surface and make the fabric smoother and more lustrous. High temperatures and pressure are used as well, and the fabric is often damped before being run through the rollers. The end result is a peculiar luster resulting from the divergent reflection of the light rays on the material, a divergence brought about by compressing and flattening the warp and filling threads in places, thereby forming a surface which reflects light differently. The weft threads also are moved slightly.

Moiré pattern

In mathematics, physics, and art, a moiré pattern (/mwɑːrˈeɪ/; French: [mwaˈʁe]) is a secondary and visually evident superimposed pattern created, for example, when two identical (usually transparent) patterns on a flat or curved surface (such as closely spaced straight lines drawn radiating from a point or taking the form of a grid) are overlaid while displaced or rotated a small amount from one another.

In physics, its manifestation is the beat phenomenon, that occurs in many wave interference conditions.

Etymology

The term originates from moire (moiré in its French adjectival form), a type of textile, traditionally of silk but now also of cotton or synthetic fiber, with a rippled or "watered" appearance.

The history of the word moiré is complicated. The earliest agreed origin is the Arabic mukhayyar (مُخَيَّر in Arabic, which means chosen), a cloth made from the wool of the Angora goat, from khayyara (خيّر in Arabic), "he chose" (hence "a choice, or excellent, cloth"). It has also been suggested that the Arabic word was formed from the Latin marmoreus, meaning "like marble". By 1570 the word had found its way into English as mohair. This was then adopted into French as mouaire, and by 1660 (in the writings of Samuel Pepys) it had been adopted back into English as moire or moyre. Meanwhile, the French mouaire had mutated into a verb, moirer, meaning "to produce a watered textile by weaving or pressing", which by 1823 had spawned the adjective moiré. Moire (pronounced "mwar") and moiré (pronounced "mwar-ay") are now used somewhat interchangeably in English, though moire is more often used for the cloth and moiré for the pattern.

Moire (disambiguation)

Moire or Moiré may refer to:

See also

Moiré, Rhône

Moiré is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is around 10 km south west of Villefranche-sur-Saône, and around 25 km north west of Lyon.

See also

References